Social media marketing is constantly evolving, but the one constant behind it is that real people are selling real things to real audiences. Looking at organic socials through a more soulful, connection-led lens is helping my clients get enquiries on repeat, without sacrificing their authenticity. Let’s talk about how to actually start getting bookings from your socials, without an ad in sight.

What is organic social media? 

Organic social media marketing is about adopting natural online growth strategies, mimicking the unforced way a sunflower bends towards the light or a tropical country experiences a monsoon season. Just like living things and places, organic social media has its own heartbeat – unpaid, unhurried, to nurture long-term loyalty and brand recognition.

In other words, it’s everything you post on your social media feeds and stories that you don’t pay for. The Soulful Marketing Co approach doesn’t rely on ads, because I believe in the power of nourishing intentional, spacious relationships between you and your customer, client or audience.

Common reasons your social media might not be bringing in enquiries

There’s a big difference between organic and unstructured, and infusing true soulfulness into your socials requires strategy. If you’ve been consistently posting, trying to play Instagram at its own game but still getting blown around by the ever-changing gusts of the algorithm, it’s especially frustrating when it’s just not bringing in the enquiries.

A few common reasons your social media marketing might not be attracting ready-to-buy browsers include…

1. Posting for vibes or because you ‘should’, rather than with intention

I often start working with clients whose shoulders are heavy with the weight of social media ‘shoulds’, who tell me they’re guilty of ‘posting and ghosting’, or publishing content they haven’t thought through properly just to get it out there. Consistency is more than just volume, it’s having the same level of consideration for every post that goes out too.

2. Not being clear about who your audience is

You’ve probably heard it before, but ‘if you’re speaking to everyone, you’re speaking to no one’ is one of the most important things to remember to show up authentically on your socials. First, you need to be clearer than Greek island seawater about who your audience is. Then, you need to speak to them specifically in every post.

3. Your audience is confused

Sometimes this is because you’re not communicating what the next steps are (how they can contact you, or better yet – buy from you!), or because it’s difficult to know what you’re actually selling. Take a look at your last few posts on social media, and take a second to wonder: if someone who didn’t know my brand saw this in isolation (i.e. not in your feed), is it immediately clear what my product or service might be?

Luckily, taking a slow, soulful approach to your socials fixes all of these effortlessly.

The Soulful Socials Approach – what it is and isn’t

My soulful approach to social media isn’t anything ‘woo woo’, not just reserved for yoga studios in Balinese ricefields or mindfulness coaches (though if you’re reading, I’d love to work with you!). It’s also nothing new, and certainly nothing that the natural world hasn’t been trying to teach us since the dawn of time.

Getting soulful with your organic social media marketing is just taking a leaf out of Mother Nature’s book – letting things just be, and flourish. Just to set the record straight, this way of doing things…

• Isn’t about forcing anything. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite! It’s about showing up in the most natural, authentic way you can, which makes it feel surprisingly easy. 

• Isn’t asking you to do something radically new or reinvent the wheel. Instead, it’s reframing what you already have into a more grounded posting strategy.

• Isn’t in a hurry. Organic socials take a little longer to foster connection, but that’s because real trust takes time. Would you rather have loyal customers who wholeheartedly believe in you and your brand, bringing you repeat business and spreading the word about you, or fly-by-night followers who give you nothing in return?

• Doesn’t ask you to put all your marketing eggs in one social media basket. Your socials are rented space, and just one small element of your business and brand as a whole. A soulful approach recognises that looking at marketing holistically, intertwining socials with your other marketing strategies, gets the most harmonious results.

• Places emphasis on human connection, which every brand is built on. Social media marketing is for real people, people with lives behind their scrolling and screens, and the sooner you can tune into that, the better things will become in your online world.

• Feels great for you as well as your audience. The soulful approach uses social media strategies that embrace your brand story, feel low-lift for you, and rid you of all the ‘ick’ associated with aggressive selling techniques and corporate buzzwords.

Explore my social media services.

Zooming out to your content universe

Organic social media marketing works best when it’s combined with everything else going on in your world – I call this your Content Universe. Inside, you find all the touchpoints your audience can move through to take them from browsers to buyers, followers to fans, and this may include:

• Carousels, reels, stories and highlights on your socials
• Blog posts
• Newsletters/email marketing
• Website pages
• FAQs documents
• Brochures
• Printed promotional materials
• Press coverage and published articles
• Podcasts

Unlike traditional social media marketing strategies, the soulful method doesn’t put your socials on a pedestal and pretend they can do everything for you. Instead, it focuses on an expansive, inclusive system that incorporates all of these elements together, appreciating the value of repurposing, cross-purposing and purposefulness. 

Every place your customers and clients can find you should give off the same energy, your signature zest pouring out of everything you do – and any marketing approach that gets too laser focused on one avenue loses a little bit of your sparkle. 

And your sparkle is what makes you soulful.

Browse some of my past work and favourite social media campaigns.

How to plan a month of organic social media marketing

Okay, now I’m really going to spoil you by giving away my exact thought process when designing a month of organic social media marketing content for my clients. These x content types should help you see that you already have so many soulful pools to pull from, and you can simply take what you need and discard the rest. 

1. New product launches or restocks
2. Sales, discounts and promotional periods
3. Introducing new or improved services
4. Promoting, launching and giving detail on events, workshops and courses (online or in person)
5. Key dates and reminders
6. Press appearances (radio, TV, magazine, podcast, online feature)
7. Expert appearances
8. Educational content
9. Collaborations with complimentary brands to cross-pollinate audiences
10. Giveaways and competitions
11. Visual inspiration
12. Immersive video content
13. Recent blog post promotion
14. Relevant National days or holidays
15. Talking head or ‘face behind the brand’
16. Faceless content
17. Showcasing you at work
18. Unique offers and differentiators 
19. Entertaining content
20. Connection content
21. Case studies
22. Showing results

All of these content ideas are rooted in real things that you organically do day-to-day in your business, and don’t rely on rigid posting schedules or restrictive categories or themes. When I work with my soulful social media clients, we use content pillars to help give direction to their strategy, but in a way that allows them room for creativity and playfulness. 

The quickest way to take all of the joy out of marketing your business is by trying to control it too much. The Grand Canyon only became the wonder it is because of water flowing and rushing in its own way over millions of years, and I look at your social media strategy similarly – a living thing that finds its own path once nudged in the right direction.

Let’s work together!

Organic social media marketing that actually brings in enquiries – you asked, I answered:

Is organic or paid social media marketing better for getting enquiries?

Enquiries that come through social media are won much more slowly and thoroughly in today’s online landscape than, say, 5 or 10 years ago. Social media scrollers are exposed to so much content, and make decisions more consciously and with more evidence to back them up. This is why organic social media marketing gets you the best long term, sustainable results – by building trust, fostering connection, and enabling enquiries that are aligned and sure of themselves. 

Paid ads most definitely have a place in some strategies, for specific reasons and at specific times, but they’re not essential to a soulful, energetically aligned business who wants enquiries from real people ready to buy. Organic sets the foundation and builds trust, paid amplifies that trust. Organic nurtures the audience then conversion happens, naturally.

How long does it take to see results from organic social media marketing?

This all depends on how you interpret ‘results’. For me, there are two main places I see changes within my clients. The first one happens almost immediately, and that’s when they emerge from months of shouting into the Instagram void, step off the rollercoaster of validation frustration, and social media marketing starts to feel lighter.

The concrete, numbers-driven results come later, as the roots are laid down, the shoots start to emerge, and eventually accounts blossom into life. The actual time this takes varies, as every business is individual and needs a slightly different approach, but we normally start to see signs of spring within the first few months of working together.

Will organic social media work for my business type?

Organic social media marketing works for every business type – whether that’s a boutique sea-safe suncream brand, a holiday home letting company, or something completely niche and unique that’s coming new to the world. The reason it works is because it doesn’t centre around a particular technique or strategy, it starts with people – the ones behind the business, and the ones buying from it. 

My clients come from so many different backgrounds and sell all sorts of things, but the thread that ties them together is the craving for a more authentic, connected approach to marketing.

How many times a week do I need to post on socials for organic content to work?

There’s no perfect answer, but I usually start my clients out with about 3 posts per week. A mixture of content styles works best – reels, carousels, static images, talking head, faceless – but the actual end product strategy balances a mixture of what works optimally, and what feels easy and authentic to them.

If you’re ready to find and own your own lane with your organic social media marketing, I’m here to help you do it. Get in touch to connect, and get started with 1:1 sessions or expansive 3-month support services.